A Vicious Cycle
by FloodBringer
Summary: When strange things begin happening to Dib and Gaz against their will, they are determined to find out what's wrong. But are they prepared to face a force far more powerful than they expected? Rated for language and implied situations. R&R, please!
1. One Filthy Earth Morning

Author's Note- Don't flame me for the caps lock used in this chapter. Gaz is yelling very loudly. I don't own Invader Zim, insert witty disclaimer here.

The alarm clock rang. Dib groggily opened his eyes and groaned. He had forgotten to set it to a later time like he normally did on weekends. He reached for his glasses, put them on, and gasped at what he saw.

His normally spotless room was completely trashed. What had happened last night? It all seemed hazy to him. All that Dib could remember was Zim coming over and... Shit. Not again. Suddenly, he recalled all of the gruesome details. His anguished scream woke Gaz, who had been sleeping peacefully across the hall.

Gaz's eyes snapped open. This was the fifth time this month that Dib had woken her up before noon. Now he was really going to get it. But before she even got out of bed to shut up her brother, she noticed something strange.

Her room was littered with various objects that had not been there the night before. Various overturned bottles of sleeping pills with their contents missing lay scattered on the floor. A noose hung from the ceiling. And a solitary gun lay on her bedside table.

Suddenly, her door slammed open. An extremely terrified Dib stood in the doorframe. "Gaz, you've got to help me!" he said. "I don't know what's been going on, but..." He saw the various implements of destruction scattered across the room. "What happened here?"

Gaz sighed. "I'm guessing I tried to kill myself last night. Seven times, in fact. Strange things like this have been happening for a while now. I don't know what's going on. But more importantly, why the hell did you wake me up at..." she glanced at the clock "7 AM?"

Dib shuddered. "I keep having these nightmares. Well, I don't know if they're nightmares or not. When I wake up in the morning, it looks like they happened. And it seems so real."

"What seems so real?" Gaz inquired.

Dib walked over to her and whispered something into her ear. Gaz's eyes widened in shock and horror. "YOU AND ZIM DO WHAT?" she screamed. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM, YOU PERVERT!"

"No Gaz, you don't understand," said Dib. "I would never... ever..." He shook his head, trying to get the images out of his mind. "But what about you? You're not suicidal." He paused. "Right?"

Gaz forced a laugh. "No. But, other things have been happening to me. Similar to your...er... circumstances." She sat there on her bed for a while, thinking. Then she spoke again. "Sometimes I feel like someone is trying to..."

Dib finished her sentence. "Control you?"

She nodded in surprise. "Yes!" But then she looked away. "I'm afraid, Dib. I'm afraid of what's happening to me. I'm changing into someone else. And I can't stop it. What was once a life of counting down the days until there was a new pizza at Bloaty's has become a life of unnatural romance, self-mutilation, and overdramatic cliché-filled monologues with a lot of run-on sentences."

Dib had to agree. She had changed. Something serious had to be going on if his sister could talk to him in a civil manner for more than five seconds. "Tell you what Gaz," he said. "I want this to stop as much as you do. If not more. I'm willing to do whatever it takes in order to end this horror, and make our lives normal again. But… I'll need your help."

And to Dib's great surprise, Gaz said, "Okay."


	2. Visitors

Yay! Chapter 2 is now up! I don't really have much to say here, except for the fact that I don't own Invader Zim. Aren't you getting tired of reading these disclaimers?

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Zim was not happy. Whatever the reason for the horrible situations he was constantly finding himself in, he knew that the Dib-human was behind it. And he meant to find out how.

GIR (in disguise and on a leash) was desperately trying to keep up with his master, who was walking at a very fast pace. But the short, stubby legs of his costume were slowing him down. The little robot gave up, flopped over, and allowed himself to be dragged along the sidewalk.

Finally, Zim reached his destination. He stopped to catch his breath at the entrance to the front walk of Dib's house. GIR stood up and stared at his surroundings.

"Master, why are we at the big-head boy's house?" he asked. Suddenly, he gasped in delight. "We gonna make barbeque?"

"No, GIR. We are not." Zim had learned to ignore GIR's nonsense over the years, but it still struck a nerve. Sometimes he doubted the Tallest's assurance that GIR was indeed "advanced". But that was nonsense. The Tallest would never lie to an invader of his caliber. After all, he was the amazing ZIM!

Zim made his way up to the front door of the house, and rang the bell. Impatient as always, he didn't wait more than two seconds before yelling "Earth-monkey! Open this door!"

"Baby-back ribs!" squealed GIR, blissfully unaware (as usual.)

Dib and Gaz were quietly eating their cereal at this point in time. When they heard those all-too-familiar voices, the two siblings froze and stared at each other.

"You answer it," they said in unison.

"No, way." Gaz shook her head. "I'm staying right here."

"Damn it, Gaz! Haven't you heard a word I've been saying?" Dib replied. There is no way in hell I am answering that door!" Gaz continued to stare at him, a trace of a smile on her face. He knew she wouldn't give in. He gave his sister a dirty look, and warily walked towards the door.

He opened it a crack and said, "What do you want, Zim?"

"He wants some steak for a bar-bee-kyoo!"

"Quiet, GIR!" Zim snapped. "Don't play innocent with me, Dib. I know you're behind this. Now open this door, and let me in!"

Zim was really getting on Dib's nerves now. "Maybe if I let him in, he'll say what he has to say and go away," he thought. "Then I can focus on the real issue here. But then again, what if something happens? Will I be able to stop it? But what if I can't? What if…"

"You're letting in a draft!" Gaz yelled from the kitchen, interrupting Dib's thinking. "Let him in, and close the door!" Grudgingly, her brother obliged. Upon entering, GIR immediately ran to the refrigerator, no doubt looking for sauce. Zim just stood there and glared.

Dib remained cautious. He had a gut feeling that he had made the wrong choice. Somehow, he knew that something was going to happen because of it. Something bad.

How very right he was.


	3. A Few Minor Disturbances

Author's note- MWAHAHAHA! The plot thickens. Enjoy, and I only own this storyline. And whenever it says "ZIM", he is merely saying his name very dramatically.

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Gaz had discovered that it was very hard to eat a meal in peace at her house. Especially when a deranged robot was rooting through her refrigerator and giggling insanely at random intervals. With only a few bites left of her Franken-Chokies (with extra sugar), she lost patience.

"Shut up!" she yelled.

"Chicken!" GIR responded.

Gaz growled and flashed GIR a death glare. She would turn him into a pile of scrap metal later. Right now, there was work to be done, and levels to be completed.

Sure, she had promised to help Dib out in his quest to stop the madness that she had unwillingly been sucked into. However, something told her that she shouldn't get involved. At least not yet. So, she sat down on the couch with her Game Slave and awaited further developments.

A few feet away, Zim and Dib were continuing their exchange. For the last few minutes, it had sounded like something along the lines of:

"You're lying! I know you have something to do with this!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"

Zim was getting very tired of this. The earth pig was clearly trying to stall for time. It was pathetic. Did he really think that he could hide anything from the amazing ZIM? The Irken decided to give Dib one last chance.

"All right Dib," said Zim. "If you don't tell me what the meaning of this is right now, I will destroy you once and for all!"

Dib was confused and annoyed. The alien had barged into his house without an explanation and was screaming at him for no reason. He sighed, and tried to explain everything one more time. "Zim, for the last time, I don't know…" Suddenly, Dib froze. His facial expression became almost robotic. And in a monotone voice, he continued; "…Why I find you so strangely attractive."

Luckily, Gaz had quick reflexes. Before Dib could say anything else, she paused her game, got off the couch, and smacked her brother upside the head.

"Snap out of it," she said as a faint flicker of fear crossed her face. But she made a quick recovery. She glared at Zim said, "And if you don't get out of here right now, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Zim didn't move. Out of anything that could have happened, he had not expected this. He stared at the two siblings in shock. After a few moments of silence, he managed to stammer out the words "you too."

Close by, a dark figure watched the scene unfolding before her. She smiled to herself. The plan had been set in motion.


End file.
